Liverpool found itself a long way off Premier League leader Arsenal before taking on Crystal Palace, but Jamie Carragher still feels Andoni Iraola's side could challenge for the title

Jamie Carragher still thinks Liverpool could challenge for the Premier League title - although the former defender has cast doubt on the Reds' start under Andoni Iraola.

Carragher had raised the question of a potential title challenge last week ahead of Liverpool’s meeting with defending champion Arsenal, with Manchester City facing punishments which could take it out of the running.

The Reds went into that meeting with the chance to go three points behind Mikel Arteta's side, but a 1-0 defeat - along with another win for the Gunners against Hull on Saturday - means they went into Sunday’s meeting with Crystal Palace 12 points adrift of the league leaders.

Despite that large gap, Carragher still thinks Liverpool could prove to be Arsenal’s biggest challengers - although he is torn on whether it’s been a good start under Iraola.

Giving his verdict on where the Reds lie in comparison to Arsenal, Carragher told Sky Sports: “That feels too much for any Liverpool team, or any manager at this stage of the season. It shows how it can turn so quickly.

“If Liverpool win against Arsenal last week, you’re maybe three points behind them. The talk was, certainly from myself, could Liverpool be the biggest challengers to Arsenal this season, because we obviously know there’s a situation around Manchester City.

“I still think Liverpool could be that, alongside Brighton, going forward, but the start of the season’s finished, it’s out of the way, certainly after this weekend.

“For a while, you keep thinking ‘have Liverpool had a good season?’ You could argue yes, and argue no.”

Iraola addressed Liverpool’s ambitions during his press conference on Friday, with the Spaniard hoping to get his team back on track following the international break.

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"I think that's the challenge, especially in a club like Liverpool,” Iraola said. “One week ago in this same press conference, we were on a run, everything was in a good place and we were in a better mood.

"And now, two defeats, it changes. It has to change and it has to be like this in a club like ours. Now we have to react after two defeats. We need the win against Palace away and we've been, I think, in similar situations — I remember Bournemouth before the international break, even the Brentford game. So, we have to go there and do the job and win the game.

"It's not easy in the moment because we react the same way. When we lose a game, everyone is angry. But we have to have some perspective and we know in the process we'll go up and down.”